Coinciding with the celebrations to mark the World Teachers' day, Dar Al-Hekma (DAH) University launched the fifth "Ideal Teacher" program on its campus on Wednesday. "Dar Al-Hekma University's vision goes hand in hand with the Ministry of Education's strategic plan in delivering education that competes globally and contributes in building a knowledge-based society. Dar Al-Hekma University regards teachers as the key players for the success of this strategy and therefore sought the latest knowhow to enable teachers graduate community leaders and entrepreneurs," said Dr. Suhair Hassan Al-Qurashi, president of Dar Al-Hekma. "Dar Al-Hekma University's Ideal Teacher program saw the light of day during the university's first decade of establishment in order to achieve its educational vision. According to a survey done, the program has contributed positively in teacher development. Today, midway through its second decade the university launched the Teacher Leadership center which seeks to prepare the teachers and develop them while addressing the problems they face," she added. "The teacher is the first to introduce ideas to her/his students, and Dar Al-Hekma's program prepares modern teachers to give a promising education for a promising generation," said Dr. Muna Karim, director of the Teacher Leadership Center in Dar Al-Hekma. The opening remarks by Al-Qurashi was followed by a speech by Assistant Director General for Educational Affairs in Jeddah Noor Baqader. During the program, seven teachers who participated in the program last year shared their life-changing experiences. The last segment of the program was lessons learned from 20 teachers during their educational trip to Finland. "Our teachers are the next generation leaders who will lead our education according to Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. ... When we talk about the ideal teacher program, we must commend a job well-done and real effective partnership between Dar Al-Hekma University and the Department of Education in Jeddah. This fruitful partnership produced such a great outcome during these past years at Dar Al-Hekma University," said Baqader. During the fourth ideal teacher program, a number of teachers were trained to be trainers in the program. Twenty of them were selected to travel to Finland, which is considered number one in education quality worldwide. Dar Al-Hekma University recruited pioneers, such as Professor Nusseibeh Al-Mutawa, Dr. Ayoub Al-Ayoub, Dr. Alawi Attargi, Dr. Hamoud Al Qasha'an and Dr. Bader Ali Saleh to provide teachers with workshops and lectures. This year's topics are about analytical thinking in problem solving, creativity and innovation, leadership and accountability, productivity and support as well as the technical aspects of the education journey. The program provides the ideal teacher award that the center utilizes to encourage creativity in the educational sector and improving its methods to keep up with developments of the century. There will be monetary prizes for the three first projects presented by teachers or school leaders, which will be implemented over four months. The fifth "Ideal Teacher" program will run for four months with two lectures each month to serve a thousand teachers, leaders and supervisors from public and private schools. This year, the program's focus is on preparing the 21st century teacher and to provide him/her with the advanced techniques and methods of education. The center developed a program for school leaders (principals and vice principals) and a student leader forum. The school leaders program focuses on preparing the 21stcentury leader and equips them with the technologies and styles of advanced management. Whereas the student leader forum aims to discover the students' talents and then train them to be the future leaders. This forum will serve 800 students in grades 11 and 12 for three months packed with workshops and activities. The opening is on Dec. 24.
